ZTE becomes the ‘official smartphone’ of the Houston Rockets

You may not be very familiar with Chinese smartphone manufacturer ZTE, but that’s about to change, in part because of a new partnership the company announced with the Houston Rockets.

ZTE, which has a higher profile in Asian markets and sells carrier-rebranded handsets in the United States, is now the official smartphone of Houston’s NBA team. Saturday’s announcement before the initial preseason game against the New Orleans Pelicans (the Rockets lost in a nail-biter, 116-115) comes as ZTE begins selling two unlocked, Android smartphones for the U.S. market.

The partnership, which is ZTE’s first corporate sponsorship in this country, will feature the company’s branding and products prominently during Rockets games, complete with signage and kiosks in Toyota Center. In addition, Rockets forward Chandler Parsons has signed an endorsement deal with ZTE.

Since the Rockets first signed Chinese center Yao Ming in 2002, the team has been aggressive about marketing itself both to Asians living in the United States and overseas. During a news conference Saturday, ZTE USA Chief Executive Lixin Cheng acknowledged that this was one reason why his company had partnered with the Rockets.

But Cheng also said that Houston is the biggest market in the U.S. for the carrier-branded phones made by ZTE, which is one of largest manufacturers of cellphones in the world.

ZTE hopes to use its two new phones – the Grand S and the nubia 5 – to expand its profile in the U.S. smartphone market, which is currently dominated by Samsung and Apple. The devices are being sold unlocked and can be used on GSM-based networks, including those operated by AT&T and T-Mobile.

But the phones aren’t state-of-the-art. Both have 5-inch displays, 1.5-GHz quad-core Qualcomm S4 Pro processors, 16-gigabytes of storage and 2 gigabytes of RAM. Neither comes with the latest version of Android, which is 4.3. Instead, the Grand S uses Android 4.1, while the nubia 5 has 4.1.2.

At the news conference, Waiman Lam, ZTE’s senior director for wireless, said the phones were originally introduced at the 2013 CES in January. Lam said the phones have been available outside the U.S. for a while, which is why they’re launching here with the older version of Android. He would not say when, or even if, an update will be available.

Also, neither phone works on new, faster LTE networks, instead using HSPA+, a souped-up version of AT&T and T-Mobile’s 3G data networks.

The devices, which are available for pre-order now from Amazon.com, are generally less expensive than unlocked flagship phones from companies like Apple and Samsung. The Grand S lists at $399 and sells on Amazon for $349, while the nubia 5 lists at $449 and is on Amazon for $399. An unlocked Samsung Galaxy S4 can be found on Amazon.com for $619.